Pouring lip for paint cans



Dace m, W57 H. P. GRAY V m m POURING LIP FOR PAINT CANS Filed June 18, 1953 INVENTOR. 1 7448040 6 2% Y m wmal 2,817,465 Patented Doc. 24, 1957 PDURTNG LEE FUR PAINT CANS Harold ll. Gray, Traverse City, Mich.

Application lane 18, 1953, Serial No. 362,453

1 Claim. (Cl. 222-570) This invention relates to a pouring lip for paint cans.

The present invention seeks to provide a strip of pouring spout material which can be extruded or otherwise fabricated in any appropriate lengths and sections of which may be cut to fit the requirements of any size of paint pail, the form of the spout strip nevertheless being such as to facilitate pouring the paint from the pail and to provide a convenient edge across which surplus paint may be wiped from the brush, and to return all such surplus to the pail without accumulating any thereof in the cover sealing channel.

To this end, my spout comprises a strip of flexible material which is of uniform width and of any desired length, the said strip having a deformable lower margin so cli mensioned as to till the sealing groove in the top of the pail, such margin being overhung on the inner face of the strip by a flange desirably of wedge shaped cross section for returning surplus paint to the pail, the outer face of the strip having an outwardly directed flange, likewise desirably of wedge shaped cross section, to constitute a pouring lip.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view partially in side elevation and partially in section showing my improved pouring attachment in use on a paint pail.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of a pail having my attachment applied thereto.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail View in perspective showing a length of the strip material designed for use as a paint pail attachment.

The paint pail 5 is of coventional form, having a sealing groove or channel at 6 into which a complementary portion of the cover (not shown) is received to seal the pail. it is routine for such grooves to be filled with paint when the pail is in use. This is not only messy, but makes proper rescaling of the pail impossible unless the groove is first cleaned out.

In accordance with the present invention, 1 provide a flexible strip 7 of any desired length. This may be made of rubber or any other suitable flexible and elastically deformable material. The advantage of making it in a long strip lies in the fact that it is not necessary to mold separately pouring spout attachments for individual pails. Anyone can cut from an elongated strip such as that shown at 7 in Fig. 3 whatever length he needs for a particular pail, regardless of pail diameter. Usually the length of material cut will be such as to extend from one third to one half of the distance about the channel 6.

The lower margin 8 of the strip 7 is made to fit the channel 6 and will desirably have a rather snug fit in the channel so as to tend to maintain its position therein during use. On the inner face 9 of the strip there is a drain flange 1t) which may be integrally or otherwise connected with such face to project inwardly therefrom. Desirably the flange 1h is wedge shaped in cross section to overhang the mouth of the pail ii and to drain back into the pail any accumulations of paint running down the interior surface 9 of the length of strip applied to the pail.

A similar flange ill is applied to the outer face 12, desirably at the extreme top edge of strip 7 and constitutes a pouring lip. This flange 1 .1 desirably tapers to an extreme thin pouring edge so that little or no drip therefrom will occur following completion of a pouring operation.

in practice, when a length of strip '7 is applied to the sealing channel of a pail as shown in Fig. 2, there will be no occasion for any paint to run down the outside of the can following a pouring operation, nor will any such paint normally reach the sealing groove or channel 6 to accumulate therein.

Despite the fact that the device is rather flexible, being made of rubber or plastic or the like, it becomes semirigid when applied to a pail, this being due in part to the arc into which it must be formed when applied to the sealing groove and is partly attributable to the fact that the strip is relatively narrow as compared with oscillatory spouts heretofore proposed. Because of its semi-rigidity, the attachment constitutes a convenient means of Wiping excess paint from the brush. If the painter, instead of wiping his brush against the top rim of the pail, uses the top edge of the strip 7 for this purpose, the surplus paint will be guided by the flange 1h over the sealing groove and back into the pail. In any event, the lower edge portion 8 of the strip effectively fills the sealing groove throughout that portion of it in which such edge is wedged.

I claim:

A pouring spout attachment for application to cylindrical pails having tops and curved sealing channels having inner and outer walls and an outer rim, such attach- Inent comprising an elastically deformable strip of flexible material of suflicient length to extend about the pouring margin of a pail and of substantially uniform cross section throughout its length, said strip being provided with inner and outer faces, the outer face being continuously provided substantially at its extreme upper margin with a transverse pouring flange with an outwardly projecting free edge adapted to overhang but dimensioned to be spaced above the can rim, said inner face being provided intermediate its upper and lower margins with an inwardly directed drain flange having an inwardly extending free edge, the lower margin of the strip being dimensioned to be wedged into the sealing channel of a paint pail with the drain flange overlapping the inner wall of the sealing channel to return pail contents to the pail Without fouling said channel, said strip being adapted to extend upwardly from the pail top with its inner and outer faces constituting upward extensions of the inner and outer walls of the sealing channel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,106,381 Rough Jan. 25, 1938 2,145,748 Bailey Jan. 31, 1939 2,546,040 Murray Mar. 20, 1951 2,570,426 Cassidy Oct. 9, 1951 2,573,378 Zurlinden Oct. 30, 1951 2,636,650 Marrier Apr. 28, 1953 2,722,347 Henke Nov. 1, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 952,781 France Nov. 23, 1949 

